Brisbane Broncos doctor Matt Hislop has rejected suggestions the club made a mistake in sending Deine Mariner back onto the field after he had to have ‘limb-saving surgery’ on Saturday night. Mariner suffered a nasty cork to his thigh against the Sydney Roosters, and initially left the field.
But when fellow winger Josiah Karapani went down with an ankle injury in the second half, Mariner returned to the field and played out the rest of the game. But the cork turned into something much more serious when Mariner developed ‘compartment syndrome’ later on Saturday night.
Deine Mariner had to have emergency surgery to save his leg. Image: Kobe Hetherington/Getty
Compartment syndrome is where blood vessels get crushed by swelling and pressure, which can lead to muscle tissue dying. Mariner had to be rushed to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning for emergency surgery to relieve the pressure.
Deine Mariner (R) returned to the field after suffering a nasty cork. Image: Getty
(Getty Images)
On Monday, Hislop revealed the surgery actually saved Mariner’s leg. “By the time we were in the hotel just before midnight his quad was swollen, but he was clinically OK, neuro-vascularly intact and able to finish dinner and go to bed,” Hislop said in a statement.
“I was called to see Deine at 1.30am. It was obvious that his thigh had worsened. He was in significant pain, and the thigh was very firm. We performed an ultrasound in the hope of draining a haematoma, but the swelling was diffuse within the muscle, and there was nothing to drain.
“Thankfully, Deine still had functioning nerves and arteries in his leg, but it was apparent he was developing an acute compartment syndrome and an ambulance was called. Paramedics were able to provide much needed pain relief and Deine was transferred to the RPA (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital) ED department, where doctors were able to measure the pressure inside the muscle which was quite elevated. A decision was made to perform limb saving surgery and Deine was taken to theatre in the early hours of Sunday morning.”
Broncos reject claims about Deine Mariner
Earlier on Monday, former NRL players Gorden Tallis and James Graham questioned the decision to send Mariner back onto the field. Broncos legend Tallis said sometimes clubs need to “save players from themselves”, while Graham pointed out that a forward could have shifted out to the wing instead.
But Hislop pointed out that compartment syndrome is “extremely rare” and Mariner was clinically fine to return to the field. Players are known to play with corks all the time.
“Deine was assessed, strapped and padded before showing he could run,” Hislop said. “He kept the leg mobile and remained available, returning to the field with 15 minutes to go in the second half.”
Leading physio Brien Seeney backed up that claim, saying “there’s nothing to the suggestions of mistreatment”. Seeney wrote on social media: “The incidence rate of a thigh cork progressing to compartment syndrome is so low it isn’t even documented in literature – effectively it would be less than 0.1%. Mariner played through a cork, which happens week in and week out in all contact sports. It just had a super rare complication.”